§ Mr. ChidgeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the programme of bridge inspection and strengthening associated with the use of 40-tonne lorries will be completed by 1 January 1999; and what is the present estimate of the cost of this programme. [10903]
§ Mr. WattsThe current programme of assessment and strengthening of highway structures is not associated purely with the use of 40-tonne lorries; it is also aimed at ensuring that these structures continue to be safe for use by the large numbers of 38-tonne vehicles that now use 489W them. It is not the case that every structure on every road must be strengthened by 1 January 1999. Our objectives are that all assessments should have been completed by that date and that routes carrying significant flows of international traffic, including all trunk roads, should be capable of bearing 40-tonne lorries.
The trunk road network is the responsibility of the Highways Agency. The agency's latest estimate of the cost of assessing and strengthening trunk road structures alone is £450 million.
Other public roads are the responsibility of local highway authorities. Since 1991–92, my Department has made some £700 million available to local highway authorities for assessment and strengthening and a further £112 million is to be provided under the 1997–98 transport policies and programmes settlement. It is not possible at the present to provide an accurate estimate of the cost of outstanding assessment and strengthening work for local authority structures.